“Depends on the demon,” the general said, furrowing his bronze eyebrows. “I’d say no more than three Iggs-sized individuals at a time to avoid exhaustion.”
“I can manage that,” Bex said as she rechecked the knot around her waist. “Three tugs will be the signal to reel in. I’m going to be walking around down there, so make sure you give me plenty of—”
She cut off when Trinaeous, who’d been lying as still as a fallen statue since he came out, suddenly arched off the tunnel’s wet floor like he’d been electrocuted. He rolled onto his side next, wrapping his scrawny little arms—which must not have regenerated at all during his time in the Lowest Hells—around his huge body with a sob.
“That’s normal,” Desh assured them before Bex could say a word. “Like I said, coming back is a shock. Also, most demons don’t get the big banish under happy circumstances. Put those two together and you’ve got a lot of issues to work through.”
He reached out to pat the war demon’s shaking shoulder. “He’ll be better once he’s had his cry. I’ll explain the situation to him when he’s ready. You go back down there and get us more soldiers.”
Bex nodded and walked to the edge of the hole where General Kirokaltos was standing ready with the other end of the rope. Iggs had already moved farther down the tunnel and was covering the ground in weapons from Solomon’s Armory while Lys organized them into rows. It was everything Bex could’veasked from her demons, but there was still one matter she hadn’t addressed yet.
Motioning for Kirok to wait, Bex turned away from the hole again and walked several feet back down the tunnel to the shadow where she’d last seen Nemini. To her surprise, the void demon was visible again. She was crouched beside Boston, holding up a battery-powered camping lantern Bex remembered Adrian using a few times so that the cat could see the circle he was making out of individual fir needles on the tunnel floor.
“Hey,” Bex said as she crouched beside her. “Told you I’d come back.”
“I’m glad to have been proven wrong,” Nemini replied in her usual monotone, and then she sighed. “I’m sorry for what I said before.”
“Don’t worry about it,” Bex said, watching Boston as he painstakingly nudged a needle into place with the tip of his claw. “I understand now why this place freaks you out so much, though I still don’t get why you thought I’d think less of you. If anything, I’m even more impressed that you managed to land on your feet while the rest of your people kept falling.”
“That’s nothing to be proud of,” Nemini muttered. “I was saved because you found me, but nothing can save them.”
“I will,” Bex promised, clenching her barely-glowing fist. “I know I told everyone to stay on mission, but I can’t ignore this. I don’t know how to fix what Gilgamesh broke yet, but I swear to you, Nemini, I’m going to find a way to save your people before we leave the Hells.”
“I know you’ll try,” Nemini said. “You always try. That’s why I chose to stay with you.” She looked down at the pile of deep-green needles Boston had made at her feet. “You’re the sort of queen I always wished Pride could be.”
Bex wasn’t sure how to interpret that, but she didn’t know how to interpret most of what Nemini said. Her void demondidn’t sound upset anymore, at least, so Bex left her to it, squeezing her shoulder one last time before walking back over to rejoin the group by the hole where Iggs was breathlessly describing what sort of badass demon he thought Bex should bring up next.
CHAPTER 8
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MEANWHILE, HIGH, HIGH ABOVEin the bright light of Gilgamesh’s Highest Heaven, Adrian was struggling to get the princess to walk faster.
Things had started off well enough. After getting his brother’s permission to visit the Hells, they’d both gone out the door like a shot. She must’ve just wanted to get out of the Crown Prince’s office, though, because the moment they started the long,loooooongclimb down all those damned beautiful stairs, the Princess of Wrath’s pace got slower and slower until Adrian was practically towing her behind him like a boat anchor.
“Would youpleasego faster?” he growled through clenched teeth.
“Why?” she asked, giving him a look that would’ve set his heart pounding if he’d seen it on the actual Bex’s face. “You already got permission, and Prince Demetrios has a long journey up from the Hells. Why shouldn’t we enjoy this rare chance to get out?”
Adrian found absolutely nothing enjoyable about having to wait while his jailer strolled at the pace of a geriatric grandmother. He was trying to think of a way to make her get the lead out that wouldn’t start a fight when the princess suddenly moved faster than his eyes could track, vanishing from the gold-patterned window where she’d been gazing out over the Holy City to reappear right beside him.
“I know you’re in a hurry to impress your father,” she murmured as she slid her hand—the left one made of carved bone, not the gloved right one that had been stolen from the real Bex—into his. “That’s exactly the kind of prince I want to serve, but doesn’t this remind you of something?”
“How could it?” Adrian asked, yanking his hand away. “I’ve never been to this part of the palace before.”
“I didn’t mean literally,” the princess said with a laugh as she snatched his fingers back. “I was talking about the day we did the stakeout. You know, when we walked up the stairs to Pike Place?”
Adrian scowled at his trapped fingers. He supposed this was vaguely similar to the time he’d taken Bex’s hand and walked with her to the market from the ferry. That day was one of his most treasured memories, which was why he wasn’t about to let it be spoiled by a fake white doll.
“I don’t like to think about those times,” he lied, using the fact that she refused to let go of his hand to drag her down the stairs at the pacehewanted. “I was ignorant of Gilgamesh’s true intentions back then, and I did many things that I regret. That’s why I’m so eager to keep moving now. I want to complete the Queen of Pride’s horns and redeem myself in my father’s eyes as soon as possible.”
It was a sign of how much this place was getting to him that Adrian was able to parrot the typical fawning Heaven-speak without choking. The princess, however, was staring at Adrian like he’d just asked her to marry him.
“Do you mean it?” she cried, golden eyes sparkling. “Have you finally realized the wisdom of our Eternal King? Do you really want to take your place at his side as a true Prince of Heaven?”
Adrian blinked. He hadn’t thought he’d said any of that, but she was finally moving at a decent speed, so he kept it up.
“Of course,” he lied through his teeth as he hurried them down the stairs. “King Gilgamesh is the smartest man I’ve ever met. We’re going to have to stay on our toes if we want to impress him, so let’s get to the Hells and—”
